future entirely changed its aspects. He did not doubt an instant, of the
ability of Bob and himself to put these blessed materials together, or
of their success in navigating the mild sea around them, for any
necessary distance, in a craft of the size this must turn out to be. A
bright vista, with Bridget's brighter countenance at its termination,
glowed before his imagination, and a great deal of wholesome philosophy
and Christian submission were unsettled, as it might be, in the
twinkling of an eye, by this all-important discovery. Mark had never
abandoned the thought of constructing a little vessel with materials
torn from the ship; but that would nave been a most laborious, as well
as a doubtful experiment, while here was the problem solved, with a
certainty and precision almost equal to one in mathematics!

The agitation and revulsion of feeling produced in Mark by the discovery
of the materials of the pinnace, were so great as to prevent him from
maturing any plan for several days. During that time he could perceive
in himself an alteration that amounted almost to an entire change of
character. The vines on the Summit were now in full leaf, and they
covered broad patches of the rock with their luxuriant vegetation, while
the grass could actually be seen from the ship, converting the
drab-coloured concretions of the mount into slopes and acclivities of
verdure. But, all this delighted him no longer. Home and Bridget met him
even in the fanciful and now thriving beds within the crater, where
everything appeared to push forward with a luxuriance and promise of
return, far exceeding what had once been his fondest expectations. He
could see nothing, anticipate nothing, talk of nothing, think of
nothing, but these new-found means of quitting the Reef, and of
returning to the abodes of men, and to the arms of his young wife.

Betts took things more philosophically. He had made up his mind to
'Robinson Crusoe it' a few years, and, though he had often expressed a
wish that the dingui was of twice its actual size, he would have been
quite as well content with this new boat could it be cut down to
one-fourth of its real dimensions. He submitted to Mark's superior
information, however; and when the latter told him that he could wait no
longer for the return of cooler weather, or for the heat of the sun to
become less intense before he began to set up the frame of his craft, as
had been the first intention, Bob acquiesced in